FYROM sparks UN name row
Athens yesterday reacted angrily to a speech delivered by the representative to the United Nations of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) at the UN’s headquarters in New York during which several references were made to the «Republic of Macedonia» – a term Greece rejects outright. Addressing the UN’s 62nd general assembly as president, Srgjan Kerim called FYROM President Branko Crvenkovski «the president of the Republic of Macedonia.» Greek ambassador John Mourikis immediately protested. «His unacceptable stance confirms the provocative intransigence of Skopje’s government,» Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos said. Kerim «disrespected the very organization he was presiding over,» he added. US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis he would press Skopje for a compromise on the name issue.
